


Hearts

by Laurawrzz



Series: Weeds [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Children, Doctor Whump, Drama, Gen, Gods, Heart of the TARDIS, Hurt/Comfort, Poison, Series, Two Shot, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-27
Updated: 2013-11-28
Packaged: 2018-03-08 23:29:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3227558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurawrzz/pseuds/Laurawrzz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The weeds are multiplying and Rose and the Doctor are lying at the bottom of an access shaft badly injured; down in the very bowels of the TARDIS where space and time make utterly no sense. The Heart of the TARDIS is screaming for help, but is there anyone left to answer?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT: You MUST have read the two previous stories in this series to make sense of it.

Someone was singing. A beautiful yet haunting melody, seemingly reverberating right inside the Doctor's brain. He eased open his eyes, ever so slowly, and met a familiar bright, blurry world.

He struggled to focus, blinking rapidly until his vision had a little bit more clarity and he saw the vague figure of Rose, lying next to him covered in blood.

“Rose,” he gasped, squeezing his eyes shut and opening them again to focus even more...

Her body had suddenly disappeared.

“No, no, no!” he cried, scrambling to his feet. “Rose!”

He looked up, and saw a vague shape lying down the corridor...

“Rose!”

He began to move, his bare feet padding down the corridor towards her unmoving form – but the closer and closer he got, the further she seemed to be moving away...

_“Doctor...”_

The Doctor snapped to attention immediately, recognising the voice anywhere. “Rose?”

_“Wake up!”_

The Doctor frowned, looking around the empty corridor for her. “I'm here!”

_“Help me...”_

“Where are you? Find me!” he yelled.

 _“It hurts...”_ she whispered in his ear, making him spin around on the spot to meet no one.

“Please,” the Doctor gasped to the ceiling, not even sure who he was talking to. “Let me help her, _please_ let me help her...”

Suddenly the entire world flashed and the Doctor found himself lying on the floor...

“Rose!” he yelled, or at least, half-yelled, as he realised halfway through his voice wasn't right...

His eyes dropped down to his arm, absolutely covered in blisters. He was in Rose's body.

His head snapped up, blonde hair falling in front of his face. He quickly pushed it back and saw his own body lying next to him, a body lying prone and unmoving.

“Rose!” he tried again, trying to push his body's arm, but he couldn't seem to be able to reach. “Are you in there?”

 _“Where am I!?”_ it was her again, but he had no _idea_ where the voice was coming from...

“Can you hear me?”

 _“Yeah, Doctor, please!”_ she cried.

“It's the Heart, it's messing with us!” he yelled back. “Just stay calm!”

_“Stop saying stuff like he would!”_

“What?”

_“Go away!”_

The world suddenly flashed again, making the Doctor snap his eyes shut once more. When he opened them, he found himself standing in the corridor, Rose's unconscious form lying at the end of the hall. He took a step, but it almost seemed like a slow-motion step. He heard a reverberating sound of something like a 'squelch', and he looked down in slow-motion to see his foot had stepped into a puddle of blood.

Ahead of him were his own footprints leading to Rose. Footprints made of blood.

The world flashed again before he could do anything about it, and suddenly he was looking down at his own chest. His ribs were moving, jolting with every beat of his hearts. They were jolting quite hard, actually, and the movement was getting harder, harsher, his ribs beginning to bulge out now with every thumping beat...

The skin broke, and the ribs burst out through his skin. He yelled in horror, but somehow the ribs were coming out even harder now...

Then his ribs broke completely, severing right down the centre.

He thrust his hand out, and out dropped his left heart, right into his palm in a neat plop. But it continued to beat ferociously in his hand as green veins started climbing around it and his hand, the heart pumping faster and faster...

* * *

“Doctor!” Rose shrieked, snapping her eyes open. She was back in the corridor, the Doctor's body lying next to her. She reached out desperately for him, but somehow despite being a foot away he was out of reach...

Then he started to change colour. First green, then purple, then rotten black. By the time she could smell it she realised that he was decomposing at 100 times speed. His eyes bulged and his tongue swelled and as the smell reached her nostrils and she snapped her eyes shut, the image burned inside her very eyelids. She kept them firmly closed, tears cascading down her cheeks...

She knew it was continuing in front of her, as a small rip sounded. But she kept her eyes closed, crying and gasping in fear and horror...

_“Rose...”_

“Doctor!” she cried, and the world flashed again.

* * *

They were standing in front of each other in the corridor, their eyes fixed to each other

“It's the Heart, just stay calm,” he said gently.

“It doesn't make sense,” she sobbed, her eyes still filled with tears.

“I know, hopefully it'll stabilise soon. But none of this is real, just remember that.”

She ran forward to him, wrapping her arms around him to cling on tightly, clearly desperate for some sort of protection.

“Don't let go,” she begged.

“Never,” he whispered, holding her close.

The world flashed again and once more the Doctor was lying on the floor, but this time his hand was in Rose's. He stayed still for a few moments, wondering what horror was going to happen now – but nothing seemed to.

“Rose?” he asked, and didn't get a response. Keeping his hand in hers he crawled to her, turning her over.

He still couldn't see properly, but he could see enough. She was incredibly pale, and had blood on her head and her shirt. Her left eye was bruised and swollen too. He checked the damage, but was quickly distracted when he saw her arm – blistered so badly that it didn't even look like an arm. It looked like some creature had stuck their arm in place of hers...

“You're still poisoned,” he realised in a croak.

“Doctor...” a moan suddenly came from her lips, her one working eye opening to look up at him, filled with tears and pain.

“It's okay,” he said gently, brushing back her hair from her face.

“I'm sorry...”

“Don't worry. Just relax. I'm going to look after you,” he said softly.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Just trust me.”

“I do,” she croaked truthfully.

He nodded, still not letting go of her hand. “You've barely got an hour. We're going right to the Heart.”

Rose frowned. “You can't. It's impossible... you said...”

“I say a lot of things,” he said disparagingly, waving a hand. “Besides, nothing's impossible. Just a bit unlikely.”

* * *

It was agonising, every step he took.

He had patched up the worst of Rose's wounds with pieces of his shirt, and was now carrying her in both arms down yet another corridor. His leg was the main cause of his discomfort, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Frankly, he didn't care. They had to get to the Heart, and he wouldn't get there moaning and groaning about his quite savagely painful, disabling, split open, crushed up, bleeding, destroyed...

He quickly shook his head, trying desperately to keep any thoughts of pain out of his head. He had to get rid of the weeds, and save Rose. No matter how much pain that took...

Suddenly a slim, brunette woman who happened to be completely naked appeared, stopping at the end of the corridor. Then she looked towards him, her eyes widened, and she ran straight to him with everything bobbing around, her hand pointing out to him.

“Doctor!” she cried as she neared. “Oh, I've been looking for you for ages!”

The Doctor's eyes boggled, trying not to look at the fact she was completely naked. “Who are...”

“It's got into my Heart, Theta!” she sobbed out, wide-eyed and panicked.

“Tardis?” the Doctor realised and questioned at the same time with a stupefied expression on his face. He was now _far_ beyond the realms of confused.

“Well, _duh!!”_ the TARDIS responded rudely.

“Look, I can't... Just get some _clothes_ on, Tardis!” the Doctor demanded, snapping his eyes shut.

“Priorities!” the TARDIS insisted.

 _“That's_ a priority!!!”

“So you're happy to walk around naked but I can't!?”

The Doctor frowned. “I'm not...” He looked down at himself. _“What?_ Did _you_ take off my clothes!?”

The TARDIS was staring at him too, now. “I'm sorry!”

“Look, look, just _calm down,”_ the Doctor said quickly to her, lying Rose gently down on the floor. He was _really_ hoping she wouldn't wake up now. “Breathe. In, out, in, out.”

She did, and within seconds their clothes reappeared. “I'm sorry!” she squeaked.

“It's okay, thank you,” the Doctor said quickly. “You said the weeds are in your Heart?”

“Please, Theta, please, it hurts,” she sobbed.

“I'm trying to get there. I'll get them out, Tardis.”

She grabbed his hand, his entire arm surging gold as all his pain numbing as she began to pull him down the corridor. “I'll make a shortcut!”

“No!” the Doctor stopped, yanking her to a halt. “Rose!”

“She's coming too!” the TARDIS insisted, and dragged him off again. They ran down the perfectly straight corridor, a speck of gold seemingly getting bigger and bigger as they ran towards it...

And passed right through.

* * *

And suddenly the Doctor was falling. Well, it felt like falling, anyway. He was definitely falling, but he couldn't quite figure out if he was falling down, sideways, or even up. By the time he hit the ground – or was that the ceiling – his head was fully scrambled.

He sat up, to find the TARDIS looking down at him, hand over her mouth in an 'oops' motion. His vision was absolutely perfect, and his hand and leg weren't hurting any more... But he still had no idea where they'd ended up. It was a large, dark room, piled high with junk all around the edge.

“This isn't the Cloister Room,” he said, but not first the first time that day was very surprised as to what came out of his mouth. His voice was high-pitched...

“I'm so sorry!” the TARDIS whined.

The Doctor frowned. “Sorry for...”

“Doctor! Why are you... Wait, why am I tiny?”

He looked up to find Rose standing there, or at least, he assumed it was her. It was a little girl, around two or three years old, peroxide blonde hair and her shirt acting like a dress with her trousers in a puddle by her feet. She was looking down at herself, checking her hands...

“My hands are so little!” she gasped, and looked back up at him. “And you!”

He looked down at his own, the left one completely healed. His fingers were tiny, but all the same, he ran them up through his hair, his dexterity leaving much to be desired.

He looked around for a reflective surface, and found one in the wall. He went to it – his legs really struggling to move independently of each other – and stared at himself in the reflection.

“I'm little!” he exclaimed, staring at himself. His big brown eyes were set in a tiny smooth, slightly podgy face, and his big brown hair was absolutely massive on his little head.

“So am I!” Rose shouted, running over to him. “What happened?”

“Bet I know,” the Doctor muttered, turning to the TARDIS. “Can you fix this?”

“I'm sorry!” the TARDIS practically squeaked. “I don't know what I did!”

“Who are you talking to?” Rose asked, looking vaguely around the area he was staring at.

“Can't you see her?” he wondered, frowning.

“Who?”

“You?” the TARDIS asked, confused.

“Her!” the Doctor said, pointing at the TARDIS.

The TARDIS jumped. “Me?”

“Yes, you!” the Doctor clarified.

Rose slipped her hand into his again, little stubby fingers in his own. “Are you hallucinating? There's no one there.”

“Theta!” the TARDIS shouted, having suddenly teleported herself over the other side of the room, spinning around madly. “I can't concentrate, it's got into my...”

She suddenly doubled over with her hand clutched to her chest, crying out in pain.

“Tardis!?” he shouted in alarm, running over to her.

“Oh, Theta, it hurts, please help!” she gasped.

The Doctor looked back at Rose, and she could see he was clearly alarmed. “We have to get to the Cloister Room.”

“It's this way!” the TARDIS shouted, staggering upright and running for the door. But the Doctor didn't move.

“You really can't see or hear her?” he asked Rose, wide-eyed.

She shook her head. “No... Bad?”

His expression darkened slightly. “This is worse than I thought.”

Rose suddenly burst out into giggles, gazing at his face. “Sorry!” she said when she managed to get it under control. “Your serious face is so cute on a kid! Sorry, what?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “The weeds got into the Heart, I know.”

“How d'you know?”

“Because she's... Look, it's just a theory at this point, but maybe this weed has grown so big... it's actually become sentient?”

“That's mad.”

“Maybe.”

“So the girl you're seeing _definitely_ isn't the Tardis, then?”

“I don't know, but if the weed has got into her Heart, which I really think it has, and it's developed an intelligence... it can use images to draw us in. It's... excuse the pun, child's play.”

“So all those weird things in the corridor where we fell... That was it just tryin' to faze us?” she theorised.

“Maybe... Or maybe that was the Tardis screaming for help...” He began to run a tiny hand through his still shockingly huge hair. “Maybe it's a mesh of the two. Maybe...”

“... They're entwined in each other and we can't tell what's what any more,” Rose finished quietly.

He nodded, just once as he dropped his hand again. “Exactly. But the Tardis would try to help us. I know she would.”

“So we figure out if this one's bad before we follow her.”

“Yep.”

“Well... Being children isn't helpful,” Rose pointed out. “But... s'not exactly that bad either? I mean, we've still got our heads.”

He didn't answer that, just gazing at her.

“What?” she asked seriously. “So it made us short. Why did it do that?”

“For the same reason we use a knife at dinner?”

It took her a few seconds to process that, before her eyes shot wide open as it hit her in a cold wave of realisation... “Easier to swallow...”

“Exactly.”

Rose quickly shook her head. “No, wait. We've been un-aged, de-aged, whatever you wanna call it, and that means all our injuries are gone. We're healthy again. That's good, yeah?”

“I... did not think of that,” the Doctor confessed, his brow furrowed slightly.

“Square one,” she surmised.

“Yep,” he replied, popping the 'p'.

“So what do we do?”

The Doctor swallowed. “... Follow her.”

“Sure?”

“No, but I don't think we've got much choice.”

She held his hand tighter, and he squeezed back. Then, together, they moved forward. Until, the Doctor suddenly lost Rose's hand as he heard a thump. He looked back at her, only to find her on the floor, clearly having just fell over her massive adult shirt.

She sat up holding her knee, her eyes shining with unfallen tears...

“No, no,” the Doctor said quickly, going back to her. “Come on.”

“Sorry, I think it's a reflex!” Rose said, wiping at her eyes and getting back up again on unsteady feet.

“Stop being silly!” the Doctor shouted.

“You're silly!” Rose yelled back.

“Well, you're a stinky girl!”

“Well you're a smelly boy!”

They stopped, realising what had just happened.

“We're losing it,” Rose muttered.

“Yeah...”

 


	2. Part Two

The last thing Rose was expecting when they stepped through the door was exactly what she got.

It was a beach that she actually recognised.

“It can't be... But... Is this Blackpool beach?” she asked seriously.

She always looked to him for reassurance, but this time he seemed just as confused as her. “Um... Looks like it.”

“Why the hell is Blackpool beach at the bottom of the Tardis?”

“It's not.”

“Well clearly not,” she replied, a little frustrated at him. “I meant... Oh my god, a pony!”

The Doctor's head snapped up, and yes, there was a small purple pony galloping towards them, a golden mane flashing brightly in the light. Before he had a chance to take that in he suddenly saw a TARDIS – a little one, a toy one for Time Tots – appearing in front of him.

“Play Tardis!” he enthused, clapping his little hands together. _“Play Tardis!!!”_

Rose was already running to her pony, and he was running to his play TARDIS. But three steps forward they both abruptly stopped themselves, looking at each other with wide eyes.

“Weed,” they both said at the same time, and immediately Blackpool beach and the toys disappeared in a flash, leaving a manky old dark corridor.

“It's trying to get our children out,” the Doctor said quickly. “It's trying to regress us so we're useless.”

“Just ignore it, yeah?” Rose said, taking his hand. “Stay focused.”

He nodded, and together they advanced down the corridor, keeping close together.

“What's a play Tardis?” Rose suddenly asked as they walked.

The Doctor looked a little embarrassed. “Toy for Time Tots... They were bigger on the inside, and you had a little console with a green lever and a red button that teleported you to different places. It was restricted to your House, though.”

Rose couldn't help but smile at that. “Did you have one?”

“No, but I _really_ wanted one,” he admitted.

“Could it do time too?”

“No. Little children running around Gallifrey being able to travel in time...?” he ventured vaguely.

Rose's brow furrowed. “Yeah, probably not.”

“Theta!” the TARDIS yelled, and immediately she appeared right in front of him, causing him to stumble to a halt yet again with an arm out to stop Rose. “Why are you taking so long!? This way!”

 _“I can't think of what to say!”_ Rose suddenly said out of nowhere.

He looked to her with a frown. “What?”

“What?” Rose echoed, eyebrows lowering in confusion.

“Did you just say something?”

“No...”

“I'm sorry!” the TARDIS said for the ninety-eighth time. “Your timeline is leaking!”

“Doctor, are you okay?” Rose asked seriously.

“Our timelines are leaking,” the Doctor explained quickly. “I think I just heard you from the future. Tardis, you need to _calm down.”_

“I'm sorry!” the TARDIS squeaked for the ninety-ninth time.

“Stop being sorry, I just need you to calm down. Why can't Rose see you?”

“Because we're not connected, idiot!” the TARDIS replied abruptly, flicking back her hair indignantly.

“I need her to see you,” the Doctor practically begged. “Honest, we'll get a lot more done.”

“I don't know how, do I!?” the TARDIS exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air in exasperation.

“Doctor, what's she saying?” Rose asked.

“She can't manifest for you because she's not connected. Or something,” he added vaguely, as though he didn't really believe that excuse.

“Then make a connection!” Rose demanded, looking around where she thought the TARDIS might be.

Suddenly the TARDIS was angry. “There's only one route to her, Theta, and I'm not going that way!” she yelled, making off again. “Follow me!”

“What route?” the Doctor wanted to know, not moving a single inch.

“I'm not talking about it!” the TARDIS huffed.

“That's not an answer!”

“You're clever, figure it out, Mr Smartypants!” the TARDIS said, and clearly that was the end of the conversation as she ran off down the corridor, her long dress brushing against the floor.

For a moment the Doctor just stared after her, annoyed.

_“I don't want to go...”_

Rose snapped to attention at the sound of his voice, but she could have sworn his lips hadn't moved. “What?”

He looked at her. “What?”

“You just said that you didn't want to...”

“No!” the Doctor interrupted quickly, a finger on his lips. “Timeline's leaking. Don't say what your hear, else we'll know our fu-”

_“I love you!”_

At the sound of her voice, his entire face drained to white.

“You okay?” Rose asked, concerned.

For quite a while, the Doctor didn't say anything, until he managed to open his mouth and force out a single, squeaky syllable:

“Yeah.”

Then he was off, jogging after the TARDIS. Rose had to run to catch up, until they passed through the doorway together to emerge into a stone corridor that was dimly lit by strange flames on the walls. There were beautiful and grotesque creatures carved into the walls, clearly chiselled by a loving hand.

“... Is this a temple?” she asked seriously as they walked.

The Doctor sniffed a little and nodded, but didn't seem to want to expand on it.

Rose frowned a little at this. “I didn't think you had a God.”

“I don't,” was all the Doctor said.

Rose was about to continue questioning him on this when they emerged out of the stone tunnel and into a antechamber, shaped like a hallway. The edges were lined with carved coloured statues in various noble poses.

“Who's that?” she asked, peering at a slightly curious-looking lady with white hair.

“That's Death.”

“I don't even wanna ask.”

He laughed at her expression. “Religion was very complicated on Gallifrey.”

“Isn't it in most places?” Rose asked seriously, then pointed to another statue of a red and black haired lady. “Who's that?”

“Pain.”

“Seriously?”

“The next one's better,” he said, pointing to the next statue in line, a lady with grey hair this time. “Go on, ask me.”

“Who's that?” she promptly asked.

“Time.”

“You're kiddin' me.”

“Nope.”

She laughed, but then quickly got a hold of herself. “Sorry,” she said.

The Doctor just grinned at her.

“Why's there a temple down here anyway?”

“We're in the ancient depths, built by the first Gallifreyans. They thought it would offer the Tardis protection. Below this is only pure Tar...”

“Doctor!”

Both the Doctor and Rose stopped abruptly, their eyes wide as suddenly a woman manifested in an explosion of light in front of them, one that Rose recognised immediately. A statue she'd just been laughing at – Death. She grabbed for the Doctor immediately, clutching onto his hand. He immediately guided her behind her, placing himself between the manifestation and her.

“Who are you?” he shouted boldly. “The Tardis or the weed?”

“Do you not recognise me, old friend!?”

“I recognise who you represent!” he shouted back. “But which one are you?”

“You belittle me, Doctor!”

“I'm not belittling you, I'm just having a _very_ long day!” the Doctor yelled, getting very frustrated now. “I'm sorry if you _are_ Death, but I've got a situation going on here so do what you're going to do and let us pass!”

“You blasphemer, heretic! Ka Faraq Gatri! You will be back, Doctor, you will beg for my help!”

“Don't think so,” the Doctor grated, before reaffirming his grip on Rose's hand and marching forward. Just as they reached Death, her apparition disappeared into a cloud of godlike smoke.

“... Doctor?” Rose practically squeaked as he marched her down the corridor.

“The weed's in my head, right in my head,” the Doctor grunted, his eyes afire. “Get out of my head!” he yelled to the temple roof, but of course, nothing replied.

“Death's your friend!? I thought you said you didn't believe in gods?” Rose yelped as she was being dragged.

“I don't, doesn't mean they're not real,” the Doctor said in his usual cryptic fashioned, and immediately no more conversation was allowed on the subject as he dragged her along behind him through another long temple corridor. They ended up at an access shaft with a sturdy metal ladder, leading down into utter blackness.

“The Heart should be down there,” the Doctor said, letting go of her hand and peering into the hole.

“Why's it always a ladder?” Rose moaned, but before she had even finished her sentence the Doctor was heading down. She had no choice but to follow.

The light didn't get any better, it just got worse. As the minutes of descent ticked by she couldn't even see her own hands – her progressed slowed as she fumbled and felt out every single advancement she made.

It seemed like forever until they were at the bottom, and evidently in that time the Doctor had managed to calm down somewhat as he addressed her.

“Tred carefully,” he said softly, taking her hand once more.

Rose didn't say a word as they continued, through the darkness until she saw a speck of light at the end of the black. It became bigger very quickly, until the moment they pass through and found themselves in a strange cave-like structure that Rose couldn't even describe. Strange luminescent twisted golden alien roots intertwined in the walls, floor and ceiling, covering a strange golden rock that somehow seemed to be completely solid yet completely liquid at the same time. She dared to reach up to it, mesmerised, and the Doctor didn't stop her as she tapped an experimental finger on the semi-solid wall. It rippled at her touched, but still felt solid.

“There,” the Doctor said, pointing to a column-like structure in the centre of the room. On it was sat what looked like a small golden glowing sphere, pulsating with every second that passed. But it was absolutely covered in weeds.

“Is that the Heart?” Rose asked, her voice dropping to whisper but she wasn't quite sure why.

He nodded.

“Help me, Theta!” the Tardis screamed from next to the opening to the heart itself. Cautiously he tightened his grip on Rose's hand and guided her forwards at a slow, steady, and slightly apprehensive pace.

“Kill it! Please kill it!” she begged as they reached her. The Doctor didn't need to tell Rose to avert her gaze from the light. “Please help me, Spaceman!”

The Doctor frowned. “Spaceman?” he repeated.

“Oh, sorry, not yet,” she said, blushing slightly. “The weeds are everywhere, Theta!”

The Doctor shook his head, clearing the thoughts. “I need to open your heart and go inside,” he told her. “How can I get inside?”

“Rose.”

The Doctor's eyes shot open immediately. “Not her.”

Rose looked at him as he talked to the entity she couldn't see or hear. “Me?”

“I'll do it,” the Doctor answered firmly, ignoring Rose.

The Tardis' eyes suddenly filled with tears. “I would turn you into an abomination, Theta.”

“But not her?”

“No... Maybe... I dunno!” she suddenly cried, arms flailing in the air. “I've got a _weed_ inside me, I'm not thinking straight!”

“I'm not putting her in even more danger when you can even tell me whether she'll be safe,” the Doctor said lowly; seriously.

The TARDIS suddenly screamed, a harrowing scream that nearly shattered the Doctor's eardrums. He jumped forward immediately in panic, his hand outstretched. “Tardis!?”

“It's... growing... so fast...” she gasped, doubled over. Almost immediately the lights flickered, and suddenly dimmed so badly the Doctor could barely see the TARDIS any more. He eventually managed to focus his eyes, and fixed her with a piercing gaze.

“Will she be safe!” he demanded to know more than asked.

“Is this me?” Rose asked quietly.

He finally looked at her. “Yes.”

“What does she want me to do?”

“Go into the heart,” he muttered, before looking back at the TARDIS. “Tell me she'll be safe!”

“How do I do it?” Rose asked immediately.

His head snapped back immediately. “No.”

“Bloody tell me how!” she demanded, pulling her hand out of his and folding her little toddler arms indignantly.

 _“This is the last story I'll ever tell,”_ Rose's future voice echoed in the Doctor head, and he suddenly shivered, and stopped any ounce of anger he had immediately.

Rose frowned at him, before reaching out to his shoulder and gazing straight into his eyes. “Doctor, you gotta trust me. Trust me like I do you, okay?”

His voice had dropped to a croak, his gaze barely meeting hers. “But you might not come back.”

“Then I've just gotta take that risk, yeah?” she said, smiling at him. “Just think about it. You can't go in. Lemme save your crazy time travelling police inside-out blue box, or you'll lose her forever.”

The Doctor looked at the floor, then at her, then at the TARDIS, and finally at the floor again. He didn't have an answer for her.

“Besides,” she continued. “When has the Doctor ever not saved me?”

He wanted to smile at that, not matter how much he needed to scream. In the end he settled for continuing to stare at the floor. “There's no stopping you, is there?” he said, resigned.

She spread a grin. “Nope. What do I need to do?”

“... Look into the light.”

“Is that it?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” she said, making to turn around.

“It's not mine,” the Doctor said suddenly.

Rose turned back. “What?”

“The crazy time travelling inside-out police box. While you're here, she's is ours, not mine,” he said, still talking to the floor.

She stepped to him, reached forward and hugged him. She didn't say a single word, but the sentiment was very much clear. Then she let go, turned around, and went straight to the Heart of the TARDIS.

* * *

The Doctor was falling in an unknown direction again, his entire body feeling like air as the atoms of his very being seemed to scatter and gather at their own pleasure in front of his own floating eyeballs. Time was rushing around him, the past, present and future coming together in front of him in a complex kaleidoscope. He could hear voices, thoughts; see memories and feelings as the entirety of time and space came down around his ears. At least until it began to focus on one particular individual.

_“Hello!”_

_“Oh, my name's Rose. Rose Tyler.”_

_“I am the Bad Wolf.”_

_“Yeah? And how was that sentence gonna end?”_

_“Don't die! Oh my God, don't die! Oh my God, don't die!”_

_“Okay... we're under a black hole... on a planet which shouldn't exist, with no way out. Right, I've changed my mind—start worrying about me.”_

_“I bet you a fiver I can make her say it.”_

He let go a laugh at the last  comment, before suddenly something hit him very hard on the side of his face and head. Immediately pain erupted in the impact points, before it spread like wildfire across him. He wrenched open his eyes and found lying in the first corridor below the broken ladder, Rose's body a few feet away.

“... Rose?” he croaked, forcing himself forward to measure for a pulse. He tried her wrist, neck, and then her heart, desperate for some sort of sign of life...

He didn't get one.

“No, no, no...” he muttered, , struggling to his knees and immediately commencing CPR.

He tried for ten minutes. Absolutely nothing happened.

He couldn't help the tears, then. They began to stream down his face, silent and poignant as he stopped CPR, and just stared at the broken body of Rose Tyler. This wasn't how it was supposed to be...

“Death,” he croaked.

Immediately Death appeared, towering above him as she stared down at the pitiful sight.

“I told you you'd be back,” she said with a horrible smile.

“What the deal?” was all he asked, deadpan.

“Pledge your allegiance to me, Doctor.”

He swallowed, looking up at her. “You want me to be Death's Champion?”

Her smile widened. “You are the last Time Lord. You destroyed your home in fire, you are even more powerful than you can conceive. No, I don't want you to be my champion. I want you to be my slave.”

He looked back down at Rose, taking her dead hand in his own. “And you'll spare her?”

She nodded. “Give me your mind, and I will give you Rose Tyler.”

The Doctor gazed down at Rose, for a moment just silent.

“Okay,” he croaked.

Death extended a single hand to him. “Do we have a deal?”

He took the cold, horrible hand, and shook it. “We have a deal.”

“You stupid, stupid Time Lord,” she said, and began to laugh. Immediately the Doctor realised with utter horror what had just happened.

“No,” he realised, struggling to his feet trying desperately to ignore the pain. “We don't have a deal!”

“Too late, Time Lord!” she she with a horrendous laugh, and suddenly the corridor was gone. He was falling again, twisting, jerking and flying around until he wrenched open his eyes, and realised he was lying on concrete.

He snapped his head up, and found himself in the middle of a road. There was screaming and crying all round him, and very slowly he began to realise that he was the cause of it all.

“Somebody call an ambulance!” someone yelled, and adrenaline shot through him like a bullet to the brain. He jumped up onto two feet, immediately screamed as one crippled beneath him, fell sideways and ended up on the road again.

“Just stay calm, everything's going to be okay,” someone said softly to him, but he was hardly paying attention to that. He had to get back Rose, to the... T... Tardis? Yes, the Tardis. How had he suddenly forgotten her name?

“No, no,” he said quickly, struggling back up again. He could barely see...

“I didn't see him! He just came out of nowhere!” a man's voice cried, as the Doctor managed to get to his feet. He needed to go. He was an alien. He was a Time Lord. If he was taken by an ambulance...

He looked around desperately for somewhere to go. He saw a Spar shop, a block of flats... This was the Powell Estate. He needed to get to Jackie's...

He started forward, nearly tripping over a bunch of carrier bags on the pavement. He balanced himself again and started limping desperately to Jackie's flat with pure agony screaming straight through his body.

“Wait for the ambulance!” someone cried, and in the distance he could hear sirens. He had to run, had to get away, because he... He was a... T... Time... Time... Tim...

What was he again?

He was concussed, he knew he was concussed. He couldn't quite remember what was going on but he knew the first priority was to get to safety. So he continued on, his vision bright and blurred as he managed by some miracle to find the stairwell door.

Then it was the steps. He began to head upwards, struggling on every step until someone walked into him.

“Doctor!” a familiar voice exclaimed, and he looked up to find a blurry Jackie  staring down at him in horror.

“Jackie,” he moaned, grabbing onto her.

“What the bloody hell happened to you!?” she cried.

“I messed up,” he moaned, barely able to keep his eyes open as he leant on her, struggling to stay upright. “The weed tricked me, Rose died, she died...”

“Rose is _what!?_ But I just...”

“The... T... my ship...” he frowned, struggling desperately to remember the name of his ship. Wait, his what? Ship? Did he have a ship?

 _Yes,_ he had a ship. The Tar-something. He was a Time-something. But like a dream, the more he thought about it the more it seemed to slip away like water through his fingers...

The weed was taking his mind.

“I'm losing my mind, Jackie, it's taking my mind...” he gasped out. “I can't think...”

“Stop this, stop it right now!” she yelled in his face, and immediately grabbed him under the armpits. “I'm takin' you to hospital!”

“No, no, no hospital...” he begged, struggling to get away but his body was too weak. “You know, you know I can't...”

“Don't be stupid!” she chastised, maintaining her hold. “They'll fix you, Doctor, I swear it!”

“But I...” he began, but didn't quite know what he was about to say. Before he could get a chance to reign in his thoughts his body had already slumped, passing out into Jackie Tyler's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBC in 'Minds'...


End file.
